Ex-India hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices have been maintained mainly unchanged and are considered largely “notional” as large mills were heard to have finalized minimal export allocations for the October-December quarter in the face of tight availability of carbon steel for conversion, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Thursday, September 21.
They said that, while ex-India HDG prices have been kept stable at $780-820/mt FOB, the same as the last week and offers for premium grade HDG (Z200-275) have been reported at around $850-860/mt FOB, most sellers have not been submitting offers following the rapid movement of stocks of hot rolled coil (HRC) in the domestic market, tight supplies of carbon steel, and hence low utilization of captive galvanizing plants.
Sources said that a deal for 2,000 mt was reported by a large Indian mill for delivery to Rotterdam at around $830/mt FOB, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
“Indian steel exports overall have been on a decline, falling by seven percent in August. It needs to be noted that, in a falling trend, value-added product shipments fall at a faster rate, as upstream products are moving faster in the local market. This prompts sellers to reduce export allocations unless there is a strong uptick in workable prices in overseas markets,” an official at a private mill told SteelOrbis.
“Our own assessment is that export allocations at least in the next two quarters will be kept at a bare minimum, just sufficient for marketing and market maintenance purposes. Our own product portfolio has a lot of flexibility to make quick changes in case key markets like Europe rebound and import prices consolidate at higher levels,” he added.